Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Message to the Lying NY Post: Credit Recovery Was a Bloomberg Creation to Get Grad Rates Up -

From 2005 to 2013, the city’s four-year high school graduation rate jumped by more than 40 percent, while its dropout rate halved — imperfect metrics, perhaps, but telling nevertheless.-- Bob McManus, New York Post

McManus is a real knee slapper. The Post is taking credit for exposing cheating based on reporting by Carl Campanile and Sue Edelman. Cheating under Farina because the Post has a political vendetta to tear down de Blasio and Farina. What is true is that Farina covered up the Bloomberg mess. But the Post won't admit it is a Bloomberg mess.

Look at grad rates like crime stats, which seem to be rising and will doom be Blasio.  Bloomberg phonied grad rates (and crime rates - I still think there are way more murders and Bloomberg is hiding the bodies) and now if Farina fixes the mess grad rates will go down to where they should have been and the Post will hammer her for that. It's a no win.

Chalkbeat does go into the credit recovery history and they have been covering that issue for years.

Here is their comprehensive run-down of links to the story.

where credit is (and isn't) due

Chancellor Carmen Fariña unveiled a six-member task force that she's pledging will take steps to root out cheating following a spate of reports and investigations that found evidence of academic malpractice.

Five of the six members are Department of Education staffers with close ties to Fariña and the sixth still hasn't been named, leading some educators to wonder about the task force's independence.

Academic wrongdoing tied to credit recovery and grade-changing has long preceded the current regime under Fariña. Chalkbeat explains what credit recovery is, why high schools use it and why it's being abused.

The New York Post remains unimpressed with Fariña's vow to clean up credit recovery, calling it a "fake fix."

Post opinion writers joined the discussion, with columnist Bob McManus writing that Fariña and de Blasio aren't directly to blame, but "responsibility for the scandal is hers, and Mayor de Blasio’s, and they must answer for it."

Post columnist Adam Brodsky writing that the academic improprieties were predictable and that Fariña could have moved sooner to safeguard against them.

City Council members were divided on whether to hold hearings on schools that illicitly inflate graduation rates, although leaders Melissa Mark Viverito and Daniel Dromm downplayed a need to further probe the issue.

4 comments:

Bronx ATR said...

It is a no win for DeBlasio/Farina. Without those credit recovery courses many schools would go into receivership. Bloomberg/Klien iniatied them to keep their stats up. Once out they are out it is used to discredit (pardon the pun) the current administration. Where's the union on all this? Where were they when this was going on under Bloomy? Shouldn't they have brought attention to it back then, so maybe it wouldn't be an issue now? What about all those teachers who reported all this long before DeBlasio/Farina came in? Where are those teachers? Terminated, ATRs or resigned. Also, and I understand why the union isn't , some type of show of support for the current administration might be applicable. Totally ignoring everything and sending an email about an increase in Teachers Choice (again) seems surreal.

ed notes online said...

Everyone is guilty - remember that Farina sat next to Klein as his right hand for a few years before being pushed out. But I can't blame her for trying to cover up and prevent grad rates from dropping, which the Post will take up with glee as part of the assault to close down more public schools and make more teachers ATRS. And the union is also facing that assault on its members - so they also have an interest in high scores. It is no win for anyone but the deformers. Which is why ATRs need to look beyond their own situation and jump into the battle against ed deform as the major threat -- ATRs are the symptom. When there are a thousand more all of you end up competing with each other with the newbies having a chance to be hired due to lower salary.

Bronx ATR said...

Yes, I agree. Most of us can't see past our upcoming retirement, as we see the deformation of education as inevitable. It's difficult being the Man of LaMancha - as you well know - keep up the good fight.

Anonymous said...

Norm-THIS WHOLE MESS WAS CREATED BY BLOOMBERG AND KLEIN !!!-I was there! Not saying that our new "Dynamic Duo" is any better, but certainly not as slick.